madeleine08 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hello again,Thank you for all your replies. The lady came today and served papers for us to appear in court for defaulting on our personal loan repayments. We had been in contact with the bank about this and were trying to resolve some sort of repayment plan but it's obviously gone that stage further.Does anyone have any experience of this? We are going to get a solicitor as it says if we don't appear then we will have a judgement served against us. I don't know how this happens in France, do they pass it over to the UK or....?This is very unexpected as we had been in communication with the bank about this and were trying to sort out some arrangement.*********************************************************************************************************Hi all,Has anyone had this happen for any reason....someone from the HMCS has just called to speak to my husband, obviously wouldn't go into anything with me, but said that the papers had been sent to them from courts abroad.We have a house we are trying to sell in France as we can't pay the mortgage but we've been dealing with the bank so don't understand what this could be for?We have had a letter, from France, saying that we hadn't paid our taxes...we hadn't received a bill so didn't pay them, but, we sent them a letter requesting a copy of the bill and also to arrange payment, but never herd anything back. Could it be this?All a bit scary!Any advice would be welcomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Did you live in France at any time? Did you rent out your French property? If so then you may be liable to pay some tax in France. The tax system is quite different here and the onus is on you to collect the forms at the correct time (spring following the year any tax is due) and fill them in and return them by the due date. The authorities here may (incorrectly or otherwise) believe that you owe some tax and by not filling in the forms as you should have done, have attempted to avoid paying tax. But if you don't owe any tax in France (you live in the UK and this is a genuine second home which you have not spent more than six months in one year in) then you should be fine. If you are really worried and it does turn out to be a tax issue, you probably need professional advice.Bon courage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madeleine08 Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hi,Thanks for your reply. We did live in France for 1 1/2 years when we bought our property We paid the tax for the first year but were told the bills just get sent out to you when it's time for renewal. I must say we didn't even think about it and it wasn't until we moved back and got a letter saying we owed X much that we realised we never had a bill. This is the only thing I can think of it being as like I say, we're talking to the bank about money owed on the house and we can't do anything about that until it gets sold.Why don't the French just reply to letters you sent!Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maricopa Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 [quote user="madeleine08"]We paid the tax for the first year but were told the bills just get sent out to you when it's time for renewal. I must say we didn't even think about it and it wasn't until we moved back and got a letter saying we owed X much that we realised we never had a bill. [/quote]If talking about house taxes (foncière/habitation), they may have been sent to your previous UK address? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 [quote user="madeleine08"] Why don't the French just reply to letters you sent![/quote]You learn the hard way that the only letters that any authorities here ever pay any attention to are registered ones, as they cannot file them under "too difficult" and pretend they were never received. Always use registered mail for important stuff is my (too late - sorry) advice.At any rate it sounds as if you do owe some tax and unfortunately, the longer you leave it before settling your bill, the more penalties you will incur. I think a French accountant may be a good idea, but obviously you can't really afford that at the mo', by the sound of things. However, unless you get some proper advice, or can nip back to France and discuss this face to face with the taxman here, it may be your best option. If your income came from a public sector pension, however, your income tax would be payable in the UK, but for any other income, it's due in France.Edit : Sorry, I missed Maricopa's post. There are the fonciere and habitation taxes also of course, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 [quote user="madeleine08"]Hi,Thanks for your reply. We did live in France for 1 1/2 years when we bought our property We paid the tax for the first year but were told the bills just get sent out to you when it's time for renewal. I must say we didn't even think about it and it wasn't until we moved back and got a letter saying we owed X much that we realised we never had a bill. This is the only thing I can think of it being as like I say, we're talking to the bank about money owed on the house and we can't do anything about that until it gets sold.Why don't the French just reply to letters you sent!Many thanks[/quote]I think you have to fill in a tax form yourself every year, not just wait for a bill to arrive. Maybe this is where things went wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsnips Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hi, You should be aware that under a recent agreement the UK tax authorities will collect taxes due to the french (and vice versa). It sounds as if they are in the process of doing this. If you don't think you owe anything in France you need to contact your french tax office (or get someone you know in France ,who speaks french, to do so on your behalf) If you think you do owe , then get details from HMRC,check that they appear correct, and pay up as soon as possible to avoid penalties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madeleine08 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks for that. I'm pretty sure we do owe taxes as we had a letter and sent a registered on back asking for a copy of the bill and how to go about payment...heard nothing back.At least if it's the UK collecting them nothing will get lost in translation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madeleine08 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Forgot to mention, thought it was a bit odd, but they only wanted to speak to my husband but I'm sure the taxes are in both our names so why couldn't they speak to me about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Cheuvanism at a guess [:'(]Very sorry to hear about your difficulties and I'm afraid I have nothing to offer by way of advice or comfort unless you can extract a crumb of solace in realising that in the current climate you are probably not alone [:(]Bon chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 This was all started by a fone call? Was it genuine? I think you need all this in writing with reference numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 This whole discussion is based on a vague unsupported guess about what the "papers from abroad" are about.Until the OP actually knows, all of this is an assumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Having worked for the Revenue for many years before moving to France, I can inform you that if the caller was enquiring about the tax situation of the OP's husband, then they would not speak with the OP unless they had the written permission of the husband. It is not chauvinist, just protection of individuals' rights. It would have been the same had the call been for the OP and she had not been available. They would not have been allowed to discuss it with her husband. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Araucaria Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 OP said it was HMCS (the Court Service?) not HMRC. It would be the former rather than the latter who would have the job of chasing up an unpaid French tax debt in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Quite, and if the French property were in joint names the debt would likely be also however it may that the French have (chauvinistically perhaps [;-)]) simply addressed the claim to Mr madeleineo8 as this would explain the refusal to discuss it with Mrs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 If it does turn out to be chasing for tax arrears, then the tax foyer is likely to be in the husband's name so that's who it's addressed to. No chauvanism, I'm afraid....[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 So if a property is in joint names are the taxes or any other liens on it not also jointly liable ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 This is France we are talking about, where except for a few special cases couples are taxed jointly not individually. Not to mention the fact that a wife is still widely regarded as a possession of the husband rather than a person in her own right (and I say that knowing that my wife has posted above in her own right and is very much an individual, being a councillor in France...) [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madeleine08 Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hello again,Thank you for all your replies. The lady came today and served papers for us to appear in court for defaulting on our personal loan repayments. We had been in contact with the bank about this and were trying to resolve some sort of repayment plan but it's obviously gone that stage further.Does anyone have any experience of this? We are going to get a solicitor as it says if we don't appear then we will have a judgement served against us. I don't know how this happens in France, do they pass it over to the UK or....?This is very unexpected as we had been in communication with the bank about this and were trying to sort out some arrangement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 [quote user="Will"]This is France......Not to mention the fact that a wife is still widely regarded as a possession of the husband rather than a person in her own right[/quote]Sounds remarkably like like chauvanism to me Will [Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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